Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target Raised to C$58.00 at National Bankshares

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price target increased by National Bankshares from C$52.00 to C$58.00 in a report issued on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. National Bankshares currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group raised shares of Great-West Lifeco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$66.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$57.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$58.44.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of Great-West Lifeco stock opened at C$57.88 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$55.38 and a 200 day moving average of C$53.09. The firm has a market cap of C$53.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.65. Great-West Lifeco has a 1 year low of C$44.89 and a 1 year high of C$59.36.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.40%.

Great-West Lifeco declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Great-West Lifeco

Great-West Lifeco is one of the three big Canadian life insurance firms. With just under half of the firm’s profit and revenue in Canada, Great-West also operates in the U.S. and Europe. In Canada, Great-West provides both individual and group insurance. In the United States, Great-West operates Putnam Investments and defined-contribution recordkeeping firm Empower Retirement.